


Two

by DIPHYLLEIATAE



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Flirting, Comfort/Angst, Crying, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Flirting, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, NurseyDex Week, dexnursey week, supportive family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 10:14:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7528786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DIPHYLLEIATAE/pseuds/DIPHYLLEIATAE
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The problem with pretending to date Nursey for one of his Andover buddie's weddings is not the stuck up rich pricks or how out of touch you're going to feel or how you're 110% sure they're going to realise you're public school trash.</p><p> </p><p><em><b>No, the problem is</b></em> that you're in love with him.</p><p> </p>
            </blockquote>





	Two

**Author's Note:**

> the third prompt for nurseydex week: fake dating/secret relationship  
> \- dex is close as fuck to his grandpapa ok  
> \- characters belong to ngozi ukazu
> 
> [tumblr](http://daeguarchives.tumblr.com)   
>  [twitter](http://twitter.com/daeguarchives)

“Please, Dex. I'll do anything for you for the next two weeks, I swear!”

“Nursey, I don't have a problem with pretending to date you,” _That's a lie._ “It's just I don't want to be standing there on the sidelines while you and your Andover friends reconnect.” _That's a lie too._

 _ **The problem,**_ is that you're in love with him.

Not to mention you're more than a 110% sure that his Andover friends will realise that you're public school trash in no time and if there's one thing that you hate it's when people look down on you because of your economic position. That was one of the reasons that helped you fall in love with Nursey in the first place; it took you a while to realise that he wasn't buying you that new textbook you needed or replacing your broken phone screen to show off his wealth, it was to show he cared. _Cared,_ you have to constantly remind yourself, not _loved._

_**Cared.** _

“I promise I won't leave you alone,” he held out his pinkie to you and he had that look on his face. The puppy look that he has used for so long around the other members of the team (particularly Bitty when he baked a new pie) that still worked on you despite the fact that you've been friends for almost three years now. “Come on, you have to come, you owe me!”

“For what?”

“Something? Something that is major but not major enough for me to remember?” He sounded desperate enough for your company, and well, you'd rather have Nursey for the time you can, because when the two of you leave Samwell you know how your friendship is going to go.

You'll text _every day_ and then _every day_ will turn into _every couple of days_ which will turn into _once a week_ and soon it'll be _once a month_ and before long you'll just have his number in your phone and your finger will hover across the call button on the really bad days before you'll sigh and switch your phone off. You'll have the pictures of him and you lingering in your phone and backed up on your laptop just in case and some days you'll just scroll through them when it's 2am and you're feeling particularly shitty. You'll wonder if he does the same or if he's too busy with his new girlfriend (to make yourself feel better you'll try and tell yourself that you don't actually know if they're dating, but she takes up so much of his Instagram feed and you're pretty sure the poems he posts on Tumblr are about her too).

So you say yes, “Okay, I'll do it.” You don't expect the tackle of a hug he gives you which sends the two of you toppling onto the floor, him on top of you.

He grins at you and suddenly his eyes look so much more beautiful and his eyelashes seem longer and you see the freckles that are splashed across his nose and his breathing seems heavier and _his lips seem so much closer._

As if he realises that you're staring at his lips, he gets off and wipes his hands on his shorts before coughing awkwardly and offering you his hand, “Come on, Dexy! We have to find you a tux!”

“Nothing too expensive, Nurse,” you swallow nervously when you see the small smirk on his face that tells you _'not a chance in hell'._

☾

 _ **It's two hours later**_ and you're still at the really expensive store that Nursey has dragged you to. The first tux had an uneven seam, the second tux was fine on the torso but too big on the sleeves and by the fifth suit you do something completely irrational; you pull Nursey into the dressing room so he could observe and you could change quickly.

The two of you sit on the bench set aside for the clothes and you visibly slump, resting your head on Nursey's shoulder, “Can we stop now? They all looked fine to me.”

“They didn't look fine because they didn't compliment your _assets_ the way they should,” he replied and you blushed because you're certain he's flirting with you, “Anyway, I have a feeling this next one will fit your ass perfectly.”

_That was definitely flirting._

True to his word, the tux fit you exquisitely and Nursey made sure you knew that when he slapped your ass and then chirped you for going as red as your hair. You shove him away and silently berate yourself for letting him notice that you went red because if he dared read into it a little harder, then you were the dictionary definition of _royally fucked._ You awkwardly cough before taking off the tux and making your way to the cashier where Nursey pulls out his credit card (well, he says it's not really _his_ since his mom puts the money in and monitors the money that goes out, _but it's his_ ) and pays before dragging you to a small coffee shop, because obviously Starbucks is too good for your hipster of a best friend,

You order a hot chocolate while he orders some fancy shit that you tell yourself you don't really care about but if you order it for him every time you go to a coffee shop that has a half sweet caramel machiato (hell, you don't even know what half sweet or a machiato is but if Nursey likes it, you’ll get it) every day after that, he doesn't _really_ have to know. You sit there in silence, and it should be awkward but you're both content with just watching the people come in until Nursey speaks up.

“Hey, Dex?”

“Yeah?”

“Let's play a game.”

“What game do you want to play?”

“So we watch the next person who comes in and we make up a story for them!”

It didn't sound at all that interesting but you agreed anyway and let him start the game, “Okay, that lady with the baby carrier in her hand? Her baby daddy left her six months ago and she's on a blind date right now. What she doesn't know is that the date is with the hot nurse she always flirts with when getting her baby checked.”

You shake your head at his wild imagination but play along anyway, “Okay, the really tough guy with what looks like ten earrings and a shit ton of tattoos? He loves tattoos but hates actually getting them so he always drags his small and terrifying boyfriend with him, who holds his hand throughout the entire procedure while posting the videos on his Snapchat story.”

“Would you do that for me, Dex?”

“Snapchat your pain? Sure, why not?”

“No, I mean would you hold my hand when I'm getting a tattoo?”

“Only if you hold mine,” you answer with a playful grin.

“You want tattoos?”

“Hell no, my mom would kill me. I'd like to get my nose pierced though, maybe my ear too.”

“You'd look hot with a nose piercing.”

This takes you by surprise so you just smile at him before taking a sip of your hot chocolate and gesture for him to start the game again.

☾

 _ **It's two days later**_ and you're talking to Jack, which makes sense, because Jack is the first person you came out to, the second and third, respectively, being a drunk Ransom and a drunk Holster. You're not sure if Ransom and Holster remember because sometimes they'll shoot you looks when you're sitting especially close to Nursey but other times they'll just ignore the two of you.

Jack remembers, _Jack definitely remembers._

You nearly had a panic attack when you told him because telling Jack meant that not only were you admitting that it was true to yourself but that someone else knew a secret you had kept locked away since you were 13. It's not like your family are 'burn the gays!' or 'Westboro Baptist Church' homophobic, they were 'disgusted when same sex marriage was legalised all over America' or 'turn away when a gay character appeared on a TV show' homophobic. You know that grandpapa would understand (ironic, considering it's always the oldest member that's considered the most close minded, _**also you're 97% sure that he already knows**_ ), mom and dad would come round to it, your younger siblings wouldn't care but your older brother definitely would.

“You've got to tell them, Dex.” Jack says now before cutting himself a piece of Bitty's apple pie.

“Who?”

“Your family and Nursey.”

“I can't tell Nursey,” you say, because _you can't._ Nursey can never know because if he did it would just be awkward and then he'd transfer to another university to play hockey because it's a known fact that d-men can't do their jobs properly if they don't like each other.

“You have to. This fake date and relationship thing? It'll kill you even if it is for a night because you're going to think about that night for a long time. You're going to think about how if you had told him, you could have had so many more of those nights with him, except they'd be real this time. You have to tell him, Dex - otherwise you're going to spend the rest of your life wondering about what could've been, and _that_ will definitely kill you.”

You don't know why but Jack's words click in your head and now you're running up to the attic where Nursey is and you're opening the door and _**Nursey isn't there.**_

☾

 _ **It's two weeks later**_ and you haven't told him yet. It's also the day you and Nursey are going to the wedding as fake boyfriends. The two of you are standing out the gates of the venue, waiting to be buzzed in (apparently the couple is _that_ rich) when Nursey looks over at you and smiles like he's trying to reassure both you and him and you decide _fuck it,_ before grasping his hand in yours and squeezing carefully. You look forward to avoid seeing his reaction, instead you start walking, hoping he'll catch the hint and avoid talking about it, even though that's what you should do.

It takes you a while to get to the entrance doors (for two hockey players, you can be really slow when you want to be) and it takes you even longer to find the actual chapel part of the building where the wedding ceremony is being held. The two of you are seated together on the third pew from the front on the left side of the aisle. The groom gives a quick thumbs up to Nursey who returns the gesture and you already feel left out even though you don’t know the groom and this is all happening exactly how you’d expected it to.

The ceremony itself is beautiful, the bride walks down the aisle to an instrumental that you have definitely heard before on Nursey's various playlists, though you're not sure which one. They exchange their own vows to each other and you tear up a little unlike Nursey who needs several tissues to keep his tears at bay before they kiss, and then you're all ushered into the main hall. You watch as the bride and groom take their first dance together to what Nursey tells you is 'their song' and you wonder if you and Nursey have a song; if you _ever_ _will_. You dance with Nursey when he drags you to the dance floor and just as you're about to retreat back to the side of the room, a slow song plays and Nursey's grip on your hand tightens.

“You have to dance with me to this, Dex!”

“Why?”

He looks at you like you’ve said something silly, “Then everyone will believe we're actually a couple, duh!”

You resign and let him take the lead, letting him tug you closer and place his arms around your waist while you wrap your own around his neck. You rest your head on his chest and let him slowly sway the two of you two to the beat because Lord knows you have two left feet and can't dance for your life. You like this, him holding onto you like he'd never let go, and you being able to hear his heartbeat in the comfortable silence the two of you have created. It’s nice.

“Nursey?” You ask.

“Yeah, Will?”

You take a deep breath in and you say what you've been meaning to say for the past two weeks (two years if you're being more accurate but whatever).

“I like you– no, I am pretty sure that I am in love with you, okay?”

He stiffens and you realise this is a terrible mistake, you pull away quickly and run out of the hall. The place is beautiful, but you take none of it in; you wind through corridors and a garden until you find yourself back at the chapel, where you walk in and sit down on one of the front pews. You clasp your hands together and squeeze your eyes shut and try not to cry because _oh God, you've fucked it all up now._ You reach into your pocket with shaky hands and pull out your phone and call your grandfather. You wait with baited breath for him to pick up because _all you really want to do right now is go home_ and let him hold you the way he did when you were five and you fell out of the tree in Mrs Baker's front yard.

“Will?” Hearing his raspy voice causes you so much relief that you sit there in silence, almost forgetting to answer till he speaks up again, “What's wrong, Will?”

“I told him, grandpapa.”

“Told who what, Will?”

“I told the Derek that I love him, grandpapa and he's-” your voice breaks off into a sob then, “He's disgusted, he hates me, he doesn't want to be my friend any more, let alone anything else. I want to come home, grandpapa. Let me come home.”

“Is Derek the attractive one who came round on Christmas?”

“Yeah.”

“That boy would never hate you for something like that. Did he say that?”

“How do you know he won't,” you pause, “Hate me?”

“Dex,” grandpapa says that in his stern voice and you're not sure why you're in trouble, “Did he say that?”

“Well, no,” you're cut off before you can continue, “There you go! Now march your ass back into the room and back to that boy who is by no doubt feeling heartbroken.”

“Heartbroken?”

“Will, that boy is more in love with you than you were when you were five years old and convinced that the prince off of Sleeping Beauty was going to save you one day.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks grandpapa.”

“Any time, kid. Oh, and Dex? Your family still loves you.”

You hang up and press your the palms of your hands to your eyes to get rid of the redness that you're sure is there. You put your phone back into your pocket, wipe at your new suit before walking back to the hall and making a beeline for a dejected looking Derek, sitting alone at the table. You pull out the chair beside him and sit down, not really sure how to start this conversation, so you go for the most obvious tactic: _apologise_.

“I'm sorry, okay? I- I know it’s a lot, but can we still be friends?” You cringe at how desperate you sound, but you need Derek to know that you don't have to be anything more than friends if he doesn't want to be anything more than friends. “I mean, I can stay away from the attic, I'm sure one of the guys from my IT class would let me crash for a while, at least until it's not that awkward any more. It's just– It's just I don't want this friendship to end because I'm an id-”

“Will, stop.” His voice is soft and firm and your thoughts are clambering.

Tears spring to your eyes again, because of course your grandpapa was wrong, it's not even like he knew Derek that well, he'd seen him the times he'd come round for holidays or the few times your grandpapa came to visit you at the Haus. You wipe at your eyes quickly and make a move to get up when Derek places a hand on yours, you look at him, slightly confused because he's smiling at you and you don't know why.

“I said stop because I have to ask you something.”

You wait.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Ah–” you cringe at how dumbstruck you sound and manage to strangle out a “Yeah.”

He puts a hand on your cheek and pulls you to him, staying there with your foreheads touching for a while before he caresses your cheek gently and intertwines your fingers with his with the other hand. He smiles up at you before your lips meet and suddenly, everything falls into place and the world seems better and everything around you quietens down because Derek Nurse is kissing you and your grandpapa was right and you're happy.

You pull away and just stare at him the way he's staring at you. And you know that you're staring at him like he's the best goddamn thing that has ever happened to you and you feel so lucky to know that he loves you the way you love him and you feel so fucking happy because he's looking at you like that too.

“Derek?”

“Yeah,” he whispers, sounding dazed.

“When did you start liking me?”

“You know the day before Christmas when it was snowing and we were making snow angels? Well, a snowflake landed on your nose and you looked so fucking adorable and in that moment I guess I realised that it wasn't just an attraction that I felt for you, you know? I actually liked you. I realised I loved you when I found you listening to my sad playlist and you just sounded so heartbroken when you told me you were gay as if I was going to hate you. And then when I said I was still going to be there for you no matter what, and you had the largest smile on your face and it hit me that I wanted to see that smile every day for the rest of my life.”

You blush and hide your face in your hands because you weren't expecting that.

“Will?”

“Yeah,” you sound dazed now.

“Can I kiss you again?”

 


End file.
